Prof Geoff Richards, Prof Mauro Alini and Dr Zhen Li from the AO Research Institute (ARI) in Davos guest lecturers at the First Academic Salon of Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Orthopaedics, on September 26, 2016 , in Guangzhou, China. Their presentations on ARI's recent research activities in the fields of fracture healing, intervertebral disc and cartilage repair attracted significant attention. In recognition of his extensive collaboration with the university, Prof Geoff Richards—ARI Director—was presented a Distinguished Honorary Professorship at the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou.​

In the recent years, ARI and high-ranking universities in China have built long-lasting and close collaborations on orthopaedic research and training of young clinician scientists. In 2016, Dr Zhiyu Zhou of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University received a two-year scholarship from the Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation and, under the scientific supervision of ARI’s Zhen Li, conducted degenerative disc disease research at ARI. The fruitful training program, with support from the AO Research Fellowship, China Scholarship Council and European ITN project, has provided the opportunity for several additional fellows to come to ARI, including, respectively, Dr Junxuan Ma and Dr Wei Guo of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University; and Jie Du of Shenzhen University. More fellows from the region will be coming to Davos.

In autumn 2017, Prof Geoff Richards and Prof Martin Stoddart, attended the 12th International Congress of Chinese Orthopaedic Association COA2017 in Zhuhai, China, where they spoke to the Chinese Medical Association. Geoff Richards, who was invited by Manyi Wang (Ji Shui Tan Hospital, Beijing), spoke on smart surgery. Martin Stoddart spoke at an International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies (ICORS) workshop titled, Cartilage Biology and Regeneration on the Physical Modulation of Chondrogenic Cell Fate. During the visit, they joined Dr Zhiyu Zhou (the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University) on a visit to Zhuhai hospital (the fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University) with Huading Lu, the orthopaedic department's director. The visit included lectures from Xuenong Zou, Martin Stoddart and Geoff Richards and as well as a tour of old Zhuhai. The meeting was attended by scientists from Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chongching and resulted in two fellows, Dr Shaoming Chen and Dr Yan Chen, who will come to ARI; a third fellow, Shangbin Cui, has applied for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship to attend ARI.

Following COA2017, ARI's Dr Zhen Li was acknowledged for her excellent contribution to science and her continuing successful collaboration with Shenzhen University. An enthusiastic young researcher, Dr Zhen Li was appointed as a guest professor at the Medical School of Shenzhen University on November 25, 2017. On the same day, she gave a guest lecture about the advanced research on intervertebral disc regeneration on the symposium of bone and joint research at Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.

Congratulations to Geoff Richards and Zhen Li on their Chinese professorships conferred by the Chinese universities. China is a fast-developing country in terms of economics and orthopedic research and ARI is proud to have a strong role in this development. The collaboration is beneficial to both the AO Foundation and the Chinese universities.​​​

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Prof Guangqian Zhou (left, Assistant Dean Medical School of Shenzhen University) presents Dr Zhen Li (right) with an appointment of guest professorship at the Medical School of Shenzhen University